Al-Qur'an Surah Ghafir Verse 25

Mufti Taqi Usmani

And when he brought them the truth from Us, they said, “Kill the sons of those who have accepted faith with him, and spare the lives of their women.” But the plot of the disbelievers is nothing but a failure.

Dr. Mustafa Khattab, the Clear Quran

Then, when he came to them with the truth from Us, they said, “Kill the sons of those who believe with him and keep their women.” But the plotting of the disbelievers was only in vain.

Ruwwad Translation Center

When he came to them with the truth from Us, they said, “Kill the sons of those who believe with him and keep their women alive.” However, the plots of the disbelievers are always bound to fail.

A. J. Arberry

And when he brought them the truth from Us, they said, 'Slay the sons of those who believe with him, and spare their women.' But the guile of the unbelievers is ever in error.

Abdul Haleem

When he brought the truth to them from Us, they said, ‘Kill the sons of those who believe with him; spare only their women’- the scheming of those who reject the truth can only go wrong-

Abdul Majid Daryabadi

And when he came to them with the truth from before Us, they said: slay the sons of those who have believed with him, and let their women live. And the plot of the infidels was naught but vain.

Abdullah Yusuf Ali

Now, when he came to them in Truth, from Us, they said, "Slay the sons of those who believe with him, and keep alive their females," but the plots of Unbelievers (end) in nothing but errors (and delusions)!...

Abul Ala Maududi

When Moses brought them the Truth from Us they said: “Kill the sons of all the believers who have joined him, but spare the women.” The guile of the unbelievers always ends in vain.

Ahmed Ali

And when he brought the truth to them from Us, they said: "Slay the sons of those who believe with him, and spare their women." But the unbelievers' stratagem is bound to fail.

Ahmed Raza Khan

So when he brought the truth from Our presence to them, they said, “Kill the sons of those who believe in him, and keep their women alive”; and the evil scheme of the disbelievers only keeps wandering astray.

Ali Quli Qarai

So when he brought them the truth from Us, they said, ‘Kill the sons of the faithful who are with him, and spare their women.’ But the stratagems of the faithless only go awry.

Ali Ünal

When he brought them the truth from Our Presence (so clearly that they could not deny it), they said: "Kill the sons of those who believe (in his Message) along with him and let live their womenfolk (for further humiliation and suffering)." But the scheming of unbelievers is but bound to fail.

Amatul Rahman Omar

So when he brought them the truth from Us they said, `Go on slaying the sons of those who have believed and joined with him, and go on sparing their womenfolk to make them immodest.´ But futile are the schemes of the disbelievers (and ever bound to fail).

English Literal

So when He came to them with the truth from at Us, they said: "Kill/fight (the) sons of those who believed with him, and shame/keep alive their women, and the disbelievers` plot/conspiracy (is) not except in misguidance."

Faridul Haque

So when he brought the truth from Our presence to them, they said, “Kill the sons of those who believe in him, and keep their women alive”; and the evil scheme of the disbelievers only keeps wandering astray.

Hamid S. Aziz

So when he brought to them the truth from Us, they said, "Slay the sons of those who believe with him and keep their women alive." But the plots of unbelievers come to nothing but errors (and delusions).

Hilali & Khan

Then, when he brought them the Truth from Us, they said: "Kill the sons of those who believe with him and let their women live", but the plots of disbelievers are nothing but errors!

Maulana Mohammad Ali

To Pharaoh and Haman and Korah, but they said: A lying enchanter!

Mohammad Habib Shakir

So when he brought to them the truth from Us, they said: Slay the sons of those who believe with him and keep their women alive; and the struggle of the unbelievers will only come to a state of perdition.

Mohammed Marmaduke William Pickthall

And when he brought them the Truth from Our presence, they said: Slay the sons of those who believe with him, and spare their women. But the plot of disbelievers is in naught but error.

Muhammad Sarwar

When We sent him to them for a genuine purpose, they said, "Kill the sons of those who have believed in him but keep their women alive." The plots of the unbelievers can only result in failure.

Qaribullah & Darwish

And when he brought them the truth from Us they said: 'Kill the sons of those who believe with him, but spare their women' But the scheming of the unbelievers is always in error.

Safi-ur-Rahman al-Mubarakpuri

Then, when he brought them the Truth from Us, they said: "Kill with him the sons of those who believe and let their women live;" but the plots of disbelievers are nothing but in vain!

Wahiduddin Khan

When he came to them with the truth from Us, they said, "Slay the sons of those who believe with him and spare only their daughters" -- the schemes of those who denied the truth were futile.

Talal Itani

Then, when he came to them with the truth from Us, they said, “Kill the sons of those who have believed with him, and spare their daughters.” But the scheming of the unbelievers can only go astray.

Tafsir jalalayn

So when he brought them the truth from Us, they said, `Slay the sons of those who believe with him, and spare, keep alive, their women'. But the guile of the disbelievers is ever in error, in perdition.

Tafseer Ibn Kathir

فَلَمَّا جَاءهُم بِالْحَقِّ مِنْ عِندِنَا ق

Then, when he brought them the Truth from Us,

means, with definite evidence that Allah had sent him to them,

الُوا اقْتُلُوا أَبْنَاء الَّذِينَ امَنُوا مَعَهُ وَاسْتَحْيُوا نِسَاءهُمْ

they said;"Kill with him the sons of those who believe and let their women live;"

This was a second command from Fir`awn to kill the males of the Children of Israel. The first command had been as a precaution against the emergence of a man like Musa, or an act intended to humiliate this people or reduce their numbers or both. The second command was for the second reason, to humiliate the people so that they would regard Musa as a bad omen. they said;

أُوذِينَا مِن قَبْلِ أَن تَأْتِيَنَا وَمِن بَعْدِ مَا جِيْتَنَا قَالَ عَسَى رَبُّكُمْ أَن يُهْلِكَ عَدُوَّكُمْ وَيَسْتَخْلِفَكُمْ فِى الاٌّرْضِ فَيَنظُرَ كَيْفَ تَعْمَلُونَ

"We (Children of Israel) had suffered troubles before you came to us, and since you have come to us."

He said;"It may be that your Lord will destroy your enemy and make you successors on the earth, so that He may see how you act." (7;129)

Qatadah said, this was one command after another.

وَمَا كَيْدُ الْكَافِرِينَ إِلاَّ فِي ضَلَلٍ



but the plots of disbelievers are nothing but in vain!

means, their schemes and intentions -- to reduce the numbers of the Children of Israel lest they prevail over them -- were doomed to failure